Margerðr Lv 1^VIII (HjǪ 20)

Illa leikr þú, Ölvir,         eigi ertu hæfr vífum;
má eigi fang festa         á fylki velbornum.
Eggjar eru eitrblandnar,         æfr er döglingr,
oddar alblóðgir;         ei munu vér sigraz.

Þú leikr illa, Ölvir, ertu eigi hæfr vífum; má eigi festa fang á velbornum fylki. Eggjar eru eitrblandnar, döglingr er æfr, oddar alblóðgir; munu vér ei sigraz.

You play foul, Ǫlvir, you are not fit for women; one cannot get a hold on the well-born prince. Sword-edges are poisoned, the ruler is violent, points [are] all bloody; we will not gain victory.

Mss: 109a IIIˣ(270v), papp6ˣ(51r), ÍBR5ˣ(92) (HjǪ)

Readings: [4] á: so papp6ˣ, om. 109a IIIˣ, ÍBR5ˣ;    fylki: fylkir papp6ˣ    [5] eitr‑: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, ‘[…]ytur’ 109a IIIˣ    [7] alblóðgir: so papp6ˣ, eru blóðgir 109a IIIˣ, ‘alblodugier’ ÍBR5ˣ    [8] ei: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, ekki 109a IIIˣ;    munu vér: munu with vér written above the line in the scribal hand papp6ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 336, Skj BII, 357-8, Skald II, 193; HjǪ 1720, 39, FSN 3, 484, FSGJ 4, 209, HjǪ 1970, 33, 90, 148.

Context: Hjálmþér and Ǫlvir come out of their tent to fight the women. The sea-ogress Margerðr, meeting stiff resistance when she attacks Ǫlvir, calls for retreat.

Notes: [All]: Compare Hjálmþérsrímur IV, 18-20 (Finnur Jónsson 1905-22, 29) with HjǪ 20-1. — [6] döglingr er æfr ‘the ruler is violent’: Both Skj B and Skald emend this line to make it pl., viz. æfir eru dǫglingar ‘the rulers are violent’, but there is no ms. justification for this change. In fact, the sg. number here parallels the sg. number in the following stanza, HjǪ 21/7, which refers to Hjálmþér as a stafnbúi ‘forecastle-man’; the döglingr ‘ruler’ mentioned here is presumably Ǫlvir. — [7] oddar alblóðgir ‘points [are] all bloody’: Both Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 109a IIIˣ, oddar eru blóðgir ‘points are bloody’, but there is a similar line without an expressed verb in the following stanza, HjǪ 21/6.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
6. Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1905-22. Rímnasafn: Samling af de ældste islandske rimer. 2 vols. SUGNL 35. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. HjǪ 1720 = Peringskiöld, Johann, ed. 1720. Hialmters och Olvers saga, Handlande om trenne Konungar i Manahem eller Sverige, Inge, Hialmter, och Inge, samt Olver Jarl och om theras uthresor til Grekeland och Arabien. Stockholm: Horn.
8. HjǪ 1970 = Harris, Richard L., ed. 1970. ‘Hjálmþérs saga: A Scientific Edition’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Iowa.
9. Internal references
10. Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 20 (Margerðr, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 513.
11. Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 21 (Hergunnr, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 514.